This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Various passive and active automotive occupant restraint systems are known for enhancing occupant protection in the event of a vehicle impact. Passive systems are deployed with no action required by the occupant and include inflatable restraints or airbags for frontal and side impacts, for example. Automatically deployed seat belt systems are also known. Active systems, such as seat belts, have been used for many decades and are manually deployed by the occupant.
Conventional seat belt systems use three points of connection with the vehicle structure and incorporate a lap belt portion for engaging the occupant's lower torso and a shoulder belt portion for engaging the occupant's upper torso. When used, the seat belt restrains movement of the occupant in the event of a vehicle impact or rollover event. In order to enhance the comfort and convenience provided by the seat belt system, retractors are used which permit belt webbing to be extracted from and retracted into the retractor, allowing movement of the occupant while maintaining the belt in close contact with the occupant.
A more recent development in the area of passive restraints relates to pelvis restraint. An inflatable device may be disposed below a seat cushion. The device may be activated upon sensing predetermined dynamic characteristics of the vehicle (e.g., an actual or impending impact or rollover event. The airbag generally applies an upward directed force to the seat cushion, may restrain the pelvis of a seat occupant from forward movement and may absorb energy. Commonly owned U.S. Ser. No. 14/470,001 filed 27 Aug. 2014 teaches an inflatable pelvis restraint device having a flexible member extending laterally across the seat cushion and having a first end and a second end. The flexible member includes at least a portion that is inflatable for increasing a height of the seat proximate a forward edge of the seat. In one embodiment, both the first and second ends are attached to the frame. U.S. Ser. No. 14/470,001 is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
While known safety restraint systems have generally proven to be acceptable for their intended uses, a continuous need for improvement exists in the relevant art.